Corporate press outlets have panned comedian Dave Chappelle's latest Netflix special.
Criticism of the comedian stems from his latest set of jokes about transgender-identifying people and other musings about the LGBTQ+ community in The Dreamer, which was released on the streaming platform Saturday.
Shortly after the special premiered, Rolling Stone and Variety published scathing reviews of Chappelle's The Dreamer and claimed the comedian was "obsessed" with trans people.
"It’s unfortunate that Chappelle’s The Dreamer is, like some of his prior Netflix specials, obsessively fixated on the trans community, because it’s not an area he particularly excels at, resorting to puerile premises and punchlines," wrote Rolling Stone's Marlow Stern.
Stern went on to praise fellow comedian Michelle Wolf's jokes about trans people in her latest Netflix special, It's Great To Be Here.
"Chappelle is apparently incapable of having most of his bits extend beyond mocking genitalia or pronouns," the writer continued. "It’s not just tired but uninspired."
Although Stern lauded Chappelle's ability to spin a "devilishly funny, layered yarn," the Rolling Stone writer said the comedian "can't help himself" when it comes to his "preoccupation with the trans community."
Variety's William Earl similarly panned Chappelle's jokes about his "favorite target" in transgender-identifying people and suggested the comedian "try some new material."
The Hollywood Reporter lauded the special for it's more "traditional" approach as opposed to Chappelle's 2021 special, The Closer. However, the outlet noted Chappelle "targets marginalized groups" including disabled people.
The Daily Beast also panned Chappelle's special for "finding ways to punch down" and "targeting people physically unable to fight back."
The comedian's latest special currently has an 85% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The outlet does not currently have a rating from critic reviews.
Chappelle opened The Dreamer by explaining he was "the biggest Jim Carrey fan in the world." The comedian then recounted his experience meeting the actor on the set of the 1999 film, Man on the Moon.
Upon meeting Carrey, Chappelle learned the actor remained in character as comedian Andy Kaufman on and off camera during the film's production.
"I didn't know any of that," Chappelle said. "I just walked in there to meet him, and when he walked into the room where we were supposed to meet, I screamed, 'Jim Carrey!'"
Chappelle said the film crew told the comedian to refer to Carrey as "Andy," to which Chappelle said he "didn't understand."
"And then he came over and he was acting weird," Chappelle continued. "I didn't know he was acting like Andy Kaufman."
The comedian said he obliged requests and referred to Carrey as his character in the film, though said he was "disappointed" because he "wanted to meet Jim Carrey."
"I had to pretend this n---a was Andy Kaufman all afternoon," Chappelle told the audience. "He was clearly Jim Carrey. I could look at him and I could see he was Jim Carrey."
Then, Chappelle fired off his punchline: "That's how trans people make me feel."
The comedian then joked that he would transition from talking about transgender-identifying people to joking about people with disabilities, joking, "I love punching down."
